The Renaissance Healer – a Brief Overview of the Evolution of the Female Medical Professional

Did women of the late medieval and early modern era (1500-1650) take part in paid professions? Could they earn an income? Were they permitted to study or to transmit their learning to others? The short answer is ‘no.’ And yet, there were occasions in 16th and 17th century Europe for ‘however.’

Under most circumstances, medieval and renaissance trade guilds did not permit women full membership. Rare, too, were cases when women earned an income. If a female did receive payment for services, including those of home-healing, those payments would have been sporadic. They would have been far less than payments made to a male counterpart, and the woman might receive her fees in secret. Opinion in most European communities of the 16th and 17th centuries held that women’s services should be for free, and that such services as healing, midwifery…

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Published by fishysqua

I am a writer, reader and photographer in Worthington, Ohio. Along with writing supernatural and historic fiction about themes like human trafficking, Scottish ghosts and Renaissance alchemists, I am a photographer, a cyclist, lover of long walks, a student of history and all things Francophile, the owner of one black and white kitty, Artemis, a fan of the Worthington Farmer's Market, mom to two great kids and wife to the cool sci-fi professor guy I met in grad school.
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